Originally Posted by
yodafly
I can tell you now that there are pilots at Colgan that will vote this down if the Q400 rates are the same as the 200 rates. In the end, Colgan employees are going to get Mesaba's contract at the minimum. It would be unfortunate if the combined contract gets turned down because we were stupid in negotiating a fair rate close to the 900.
Have these Q pilots that are talking tough send me an email......I'm not hard to find in EWR.
They are waaay off base if that's their position.
Originally Posted by
bored
Yoda -So... you mean to tell me that most Colgan pilots could potentially see 20-30% raises and you guys would vote NO if your Q400 pay didn't equal 900 pay? Hello? big picture?
PCL guys - I'm all for having the contract restrict the minimum days one can go down to when picking up open time. I'm also for the contract stipulating a maximum and minimum amount of open time that is left over for pickup after bidding. I'm sure if you ask any XJ pilot they're onboard with our current practice of allowing 1 day below min days off and open time restrictions
Why? because by restricting it you uphold safety standards and prevent the company from basing their staffing model on guys going to ridiculous levels of days off and thereby consistently running into a short staffing scenario. Not to mention as the company uses this "benefit" to their advantage, your airline requires less pilots, therefore less jobs, therefore potentially fewer upgrades. Further, what kind of leverage do you think the union has in trying to secure more days off when there are people that feel 7, 6, 5 or even 4 days off a month are acceptable? Then there's always the greed factor. Hopefully with the pay increases coming, picking up large amounts of open time won't be necessary.
And yes, as always in contract negotiations we should be shooting for the most we think we can obtain. We aren't Southwest, as every airline is different. That's why this raise the bar mentality is somewhat flawed.
Anyone, and I mean anyone from any of the three groups, thinks they should vote one way or the other based on a single item is ludicrous. Everyone needs to calm down and wait to see the TA when it's ready for pilot group ratification. If everyone expects their little pet peeve item to be in the contract or it's a NO VOTE without looking at the bigger picture is simply screwing all of us. Evaluate the whole product and then make an informed decision....enough of the internet tough-guy syndrome, it's comical.
